Park City's Finest

From sexy boss ladies to brides to be, two "badass" chicks and one "narcissistic prick"—this year's Sundance stars dish on their indie roles, most buzz-worthy festival flicks, and how to stay fashionable in snowy Park City

Park City's Finest

Park City's Finest

Olivia Thirlby stars in Nobody Walks with John Krasinski and Rosemarie DeWitt; directed by Ry Russo-Young.

Tell us about your character in the film. I play Martine, a young visual artist and a New Yorker. She goes to LA to complete the sound on her next film project and finds herself staying in the guesthouse of a family because the husband is helping her work on it.

What attracted you to this part? When I read the script, the whole thing was just really good. I felt like I hadn't read and certainly haven't played this character before. She's a young woman who is thrown into emotionally gray areas and deals with them in a very human way, which is imperfectly. I didn't want her to be a scapegoat or a kind of jezebel character. We talked a lot about her sexuality. We didn't want it to be overt—we didn't want her to be oozing sex—but we definitely wanted to show that there was something about her that men really liked.

What other films are you excited to see at the festival this year? There are so many! There's my amazing filmmaker friend So Yong Kim's film, For Ellen. Hello, I Must be Going I heard is amazing. So is Liberal Arts.

Do you have a favorite Sundance moment, this year or in years past? I'm thinking of a lot of anecdotes but they're not necessarily ones I should share. Maybe that is the Sundance anecdote: the one you remember and can never talk about publicly!

How do you dress for Sundance? Duck boots. Keeping your feet warm and dry is definitely important. You can't mess around. I love Sundance because of the fashion actually. It's a way to really show off your personal style because it's not just about a dress and heels.

Tell us about your respective characters in the film. KB: I play Sarah and her intention is to get her two best friends from childhood [Bosworth and Bell] together on a remote island. There's been some major conflict in their lives and she just wants to reconnect with everybody. Then they encounter trouble. KA: They're three really strong-willed girls and they're like, `We are going to get off this island.' That's what excited me about this script. I had no interest in playing a typical girl in a thriller who's either a victim or just bizarrely tough and strong. As a filmmaker and as an actor, I have this aversion to the kind of girls who are just like—[employs sarcastic tone]—so pretty but so embarrassed about how pretty they are and their shoulders hunch down and their voice gets weird...I'm just so done with that. Stand up straight, be a badass, use your voice and be proud of that. You're still feminine and you're still sexy. If you intimidate someone then that's a pretty dumb person you're intimidating so I love the idea of making these girls have...a certain confidence. LB: And they're also safe amongst themselves. It's not a safe situation, but they feel safe to say things or try things. There's an ease to how they communicate, so when the shit hits the fan in the movie and we're forced to survive, there's this vulnerability and confidence in how they deal with it.

What attracted you to these roles?KB: It's rare you get a script where you get to work with your fellow actresses. Normally, you're kind of the lone female in a group of men. KA: That or you're like the goofy friend or a pretty girl. It's always a type. KB: This is about just three real people in an extraordinary circumstance trying to figure it all out. LB: That's what I find really cool about this movie and even in ourselves. When one person felt week in a shoot, the other girls would pick us up. Same thing in the movie—when one character was completely vulnerable and losing it, the other two would slap them into gear.

How do you dress for Sundance? KA: Talk to these guys. I'm six months pregnant so I'm just trying to make that work. KB: Definitely wear boots. You missy—miss pregnant—wore high-heeled boots yesterday in a blizzard!KA: Only during press! LB: My advice is to keep a pair of really comfortable snow boots with you at all times.